10 Steps to Economic and Educational Success – Facing Reality Versus the Fairness Myth

Here’s what the country faces: The confusion of do gooding and fairness with achievement and success.

What ails the US economy and its education system is the constant desire to rationalize the idea of equal outcome. By the nature of being human, you will always have a pecking order. Some will succeed more than others. Having taught in a public school in New York City, it was clear years ago and clearer today, why our education and economic system are declining.

The focus on mediocrity. Pass students at all costs who were in 7th and 8th grade reading at 3rd and 4th grade levels. The school unions were oppressive. The older teachers wanted a job. There was no merit system.

Today, we face the most insane economic policies led by a President and Congress determined to organize America into one big community ruled purely by their idea of fairness and what they determine is right for us.

The new King – what the constitution looked to protect against – is taxing us economically socially and educationally without true representation.

They encourage the all too familiar political gambit play the rich – and successful – against the taken advantage middle and poor. In the name of fairness and mediocrity – rather than meritocracy – we are being overtaken by bureaucrats that believe to profit and succeed is evil – meaning unfair.

Yet, they soak the entire popular with their ridiculous salaries, pensions and benefits. The country is crippled by a double standard where big is OK because they have the dollars to buy politicians through lobbyist and contributions. In turn, the politicians vote for them to get the votes and the backing.

The result is a Fed controlled by an academic who has little understanding of simple business. He is a political animal who lacks common sense. The believes we are reliving the Depression. Yet, all predictive models have been shown you cannot predict the future from the past. You can learn from it but the future will be different.

The idea that you can keep borrowing your way to prosperity following Keynesian models is a pipe dream. There are no free lunches.

What do I recommend seems more a wish list:

1. Get back to the basics of what made this country great – support small business and entrepreneurs
2. Foster true fairness by raising all school standards and facing that students are failing for a number of reasons – teaching methods, emotional issues, cultural circumstances, economic reasons and purely differences in intelligence.
3. Stop spending. Balance the budget. Everyone has to take less.
4. Stop raising taxes to cover up the wasteful, uncontrolled spending
5. Stop borrowing
6. Politicians and bureaucrats have to be put on a system based upon meritocracy not pork barreling. This means a reporting system on the internet of what they are doing which is understandable.
7. Have big business ally with education and small business so that they can incentivize innovation and job creation.
8. Give incentives to small businesses, entrepreneurs which will create more start ups, jobs and long term investment.
9. Create an atmosphere of greater economic certainty by honoring the successful and not bailing out the unsuccessful. It’s good to succeed and to be wealthy if done within the rules (rules that are not onerous)
10. Make the government stay as the referee not the participant.

Do I believe this will happen?

No.

Why?

Because we are appealing to the lowest common denominator – to fairness which sounds moral and wonderful. Fairness attracts very bright and idealistic people.

But only being realistic, facing the current reality going back to basics and taking our current medicine will return us to being the economic and social engine that the world has admired. By being the world’s policeman in the name of fairness, we are being unfair to the Americans we are supposedly trying to help.

Just think of the enormous waste of money going to wars, pork barrel, bureaucrats, entitlements etc.

It reminds me of failing companies where everyone gets around a table and says we can’t cut any expenses. But, we are losing money – lots of it.

Finally, the company faces the news – we are going under. Suddenly, there are numerous proposals for cuts but often too late. That’s our federal state governments today. Fairness and mediocrity versus reality and meritocracy.

Bureaucracy versus Entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, I believe its time to face we are going under. I hope it’s not too late.